APPRECIATION

"There is more hunger in this world for appreciation and love than there is for bread."

~Mother Teresa

The best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts, Of kindness and of love.

~ William Wordsworth

 

To laugh often and love much... to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one's self... this is to have succeeded.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

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To be appreciative! 

 

To be appreciative one has to be thankful, express admiration, approval or gratitude.  As you appreciate and show appreciation you become more valuable to not only others, but to yourself.  Finding something to appreciate is ultimately easy.  Finding the wisdom to show appreciation is not so easy. By finding appreciation you also find perspective or perhaps even a shift in perspective. 

 

Searching for something to appreciate when you are going through a really tough time is challenging at best.  But it is here, in these places, that you grow as a difficult picture moves the perspective from a really large picture to a smaller more manageable one. 

 

Appreciating those we love can move mountains - or demolish them for lack of it. 

 

Weren't we all, at a very young age, taught to say 'thank you?'  What has happened to that?  So often now we do something really kind for someone and never hear a thank you, much less showing us sincere gratitude.  How sad because gratitude and appreciation will see us through the stresses and messes of life and can become a sustaining value in all we say and do and ultimately who we are.

 

To begin with there must be a basic appreciation for life.  If this is absent, then appreciation for the smaller things is nonexistent.  After all, isn't life our most precious gift, deserving of our greatest appreciation? 

 

How can we appreciate anything if we can't appreciate life?

 

Here's what I think.  What you give comes back to you!  The more you sincerely appreciate life and others  from your heart and soul, the more this appreciation attracts back fulfilling experiences to you, both professionally and personally. 

 

People who appreciate us, our efforts, and our love, light a fire within us and without that appreciation love dies. An anonymous quote says it best, "Encouraged people achieve the best; dominated people achieve second best; neglected people achieve the least."

 

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"Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you."

~William Arthur

 

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But here is the deal....you also have to learn to find appreciation in the bad things that happen to you.  The things that temporarily crush your spirit.  Not so easy is it?  But consider this.  Appreciating the bad with the good will bring you a more fulfilling life. 

 

Fear of losing something makes us appreciate it more.  Appreciation leads us to a place of love for each and every second we are on this planet.  We are here for only a limited amount of time.  A great deal of that time is spent working.  We must learn to do the best we can do at what we do. Taking pride in our work or play and appreciating those we love with all our hearts is the right and only thing to do. Constant and unexpected encouragement is a way of showing appreciation.  For without it we are lost. 

 

 

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”

~William James

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So today let's start an Appreciation Day.  Let's appreciate the things others do for us, not just today, but everyday.  It is a fundamental and basic human need.  So today if someone makes the bed for you, fixes your breakfast or simply tells you to have a beautiful day, appreciate them. 

Everyday should be Appreciation Day. 

“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”

~William James